After Vengence
by tlcplusp
Summary: Marcus' story, immediately after the death of Didyme.


Dedicated to DolphinDreamer24-7. Happy very bleated birthday! I love you! Incidentally, this has turned from ficclet to chaptered story. Sorry...D;

A/N: Just about everything Stephanie Meyer has said about Marcus' past I have dismissed as moronic. Do not except this to comply with FAQ cannon.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to anything in the Twilight universe. Thus, this is posted at fanfictiondotnet.

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As he tried to figure out who his next opponent would be, Marcus watched the ties flowing towards him, dark gray and brown for fear and anger. They didn't matter. They'd be gone shortly. The only ribbons he paid true attention to were the red, pink, yellow and green ones (love, hope, happiness, trust) flowing between himself and Didyme as they fought, nearly a league from one another.

Marcus neatly dispatched the dark haired male and whirled to meet the enraged mate as the vivid ties that had bound the two blackened. Immediately the third vampire joined in, which Marcus had not been expecting. The ribbons between these two were pale, bluish gray, indicating that they had no particular feelings for each other. This male's ties were to the leader of the coven, the female with the wild black hair. He must be trying to stall, trying to give the leader time to kill Didyme.

As if she could. Didyme was a fine warrior in her own rights, and with her gift to command, nothing could harm her.

But as though Fate took it upon herself to disabuse him of this comforting notion, at that instant Didyme's scream rang out over the land.

…

She burned. Fire fled through her empty veins, and she screamed. The throbbing pain was a merciless reminder that she had not yet been granted death, a reminder that Life was a cruel lover, and demanded a great price for its dalliance.

But the pain was also a reminder that she was alive, and in life there was a much sweeter lover, one who had to be protected from this pain at all costs. And with her demise imminent, what cost could be too great?

Certainly not that of a broken vow.

So she focused on her mouth and the traitorous shrieks it let out until she had mastery over it again. She braided her strange power with her voice as she had so many times before and turned agonized screams to shape the command she'd sworn she would never give. "Flee! Escape! You shall not give up your life! I do not permit you to die, Marcus!"

This small act exhausted her ability to fight back the pain. The flames were back, and with a vengeance. Distantly, the female vampire who had done this to her shrieked in rage, but it didn't matter. Death would be a welcome relief. She had no reason to fight any longer. Her husband would escape, unable to throw himself into a fight to the death to avenge her. Marcus would tell their brothers, and this resistance would be decimated. They would be safe.

And she wouldn't have to hurt anymore.

With a relieved smile forming on her lips, the fire converged on her stopped heart and Didyme slipped into her second death.

…

If it were physically possible Marcus would have wept as he ran away from the only place that held meaning. Away from his wife's murderers. Away from her corpse. Away from his heart, from his life. But though he fought against the command with his every thought, he could not evade his Lady's gift, could not disobey her commands, even after death.

And through his anguish, he noticed that even after every other tie had fallen away, broken, the command (the purple of royal authority) still bound him to her, even as it pushed him away.

So he ran with a hazy purpose in mind. He followed the paled ties that connected him with his 'brothers', with his court. They were expecting him the next day, and were waiting for news that Rome was now theirs. Instead, he would greet them tonight, and the day would be spent in preparation for war.

They would return. He and his brothers would crush the resisting vampires, would avenge Didyme. He would bury her corpse. Then he would follow her to the gates of Hell. He smiled. Compared to the agony of existence without her, the Underworld was sure to be blissful.

…

"Aro."

Aro looked up in irritation at the human. If Chelsea did not learn fealty, he would become cross, and she would not survive the testing stage, no matter her potential. He sighed. Potential. Such great potential... He reluctanly swallowed his annoyance. "Come here, child."

He barely spared a glance for her worried face, and took her hand. Less than a second later, he shoved it away. _Damn, damn, and damn again._ "Santiago," he hissed, and the vampire appeared at his side. "It's her time," he said, nodding at Chelsea. "Change her," he added, when he saw her pale. Humans became panicky at the slightest thing. At other times it amused him to give out vauge orders that could spell doom, but not now.

Aro looked around the court. The feeling in the air was relaxed, as the Lord and Lady were not present. He smirked. That would soon change.

"Caius!" he called softly, and heard the faint reply from the second floor. Aro swept up the stairs and into the private suites that belonged to the leaders of the Volturri.

"Brother, we must away. Something has happened, to Marcus and Didyme, to alienate them. The human girl, Chelsea, sensed a weakening between us."

Caius stared at him in confusion. "Chelsea? I believed her talent was to draw or to repel. How--"

"Do you doubt me, Caius?" Aro asked, raising his hands for emphasis. Doubt and wariness flickered in the other's face, and Aro was pleased. Caius could never succeed the Lord and Lady Voltorri, but his own star was on the rise. "Fetch your wife. We must retreat, far enough for a three-day's journey. Santiago will come with us. He is in the process of changing Chelsea. She will keep Marcus and Didyme to us, whatever occurred to turn them against us. We will remain a coven, we will remain the leaders of the Volturri."

Caius nodded. Within the second he and Athenodora had joined him, and they hurried together down to the courtroom. "Fetch Santiago and Chelsea," Aro commanded one of the guards, who ran to obey. Santiago arrived, carrying the writhing, human. She was gagged, and the smell of newly closed wounds filled the room. "Well done, Santiago," Aro crooned. The doctor bowed, satisfaction on his face.

"Let us hasten," Caius said, having finally caught Aro's urgency. The others gave their consent and left as one. Scant minutes later the group ran out of the city.

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